Snuggle Up to Classic Holiday Fun for the Entire Family
Movies and holidays are a family tradition, and everyone has their list of favorites. Here are some popular classics that deserve a turn in the family DVD.
How many of the classics are on your watch list? Some of the oldies but goodies have been colorized, adding a new dimension to holiday flicks. Check out other fun facts you may not have realized about these holiday favorites.
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Macy’s unwittingly hires a drunken stumblebum to play Santa at its Thanksgiving Day parade, upsetting a local man named Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn).
Kringle complains to event coordinator Doris Walker (Maureen O'Hara), who convinces him to fill in for the soused Santa. Crowds thoroughly embrace Kringle, who expands his role as the Santa for the New York City flagship store in Macy’s Herald Square. Walker grows increasingly concerned as Kringle insists he really is Santa Claus.
He’s briefly institutionalized as experts evaluate his mental wellbeing. Ultimately, the Supreme Court recognizes Kringle’s status, when it’s learned the Post Office (and by extension the federal government) has delivered letters to Santa to him from their dead letter room.
This post World War II classic owns a spot in the Library of Congress for its cultural significance.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
Clark Griswold’s (Chevy Chase) love of Christmas is methodically bled out of him throughout the slapstick holiday classic. The family ventures into the country to cut down their own Christmas tree, only to realize they forgot the necessary tools.
Undaunted, Clark uproots the massive evergreen and treks it back home, where the branches shatter his living room windows when the twine is cut. His extravagant yard display of 25,000 bulbs initially fails to light.
Further frustration simmers as his wife’s cousin and her husband, Eddie Johnson, (Randy Quaid) shows up uninvited and unannounced with his family in tow. Clark’s patience runs dry when the Christmas bonus he expected from work is replaced with a free membership to the Jelly of the Month Club.
Eddie takes the rant sincerely and abducts Clark’s boss, Frank Shirley (Brian Doyle-Murray) the night before Christmas. Eddie’s well-intentioned kidnapping ends up helping the Griswolds in the end, as the boss realizes he’s being a cheapskate and honors the bonuses.
Stargazing: What actress played a neighbor who loathes Clark Griswold? Hint: She’s a Saturday Night Live alum who later starred in one of the most popular sitcoms in television history.
A Christmas Story (1983)
Ralphie Parker (Peter BIllingsley) can’t stop obsessing over the Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas.
Adults (including his teacher, mother and even a mall Santa) warn him “You’ll shoot your eye out” but Ralphie isn’t deterred. He ultimately receives the weapon, which ricochets a pellet and knocks the glasses off his face the first time he fires it.
Fantasy sequences throughout the movie see Ralphie thwart criminals, level the playing field with his parents and produce the best essay his teacher has ever written. But the true star of the show is Ralphie’s father, Mr. Parker, a.k.a. The Old Man (Darren McGavin). The Old Man battles with the family’s constantly malfunctioning furnace and the untamed dogs from the Bumpus family next door.
The dogs ravage the Christmas meal, leading the family to dine at a Chinese restaurant, where they are served a duck with its head still on.
Fun fact: The film takes place in a fictional suburb of Indiana but the Parker house from the movie resides in Cleveland. Today, the home hosts public tours and is across the street from a museum dedicated to the flick.
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
Charlie Brown (Peter Robbins) laments how commercial Christmas has become and pseudo-psychiatrist Lucy van Pelt (Tracy Stratford) urges him to direct a Christmas play.
He thinks a Christmas tree would boost the staff’s mood and returns from the lot presenting a sapling missing most of its branches. The children mock Charlie Brown’s choice for a Christmas tree and laugh at him when asked to help decorate it.
The one decoration he puts on the tree causes it to droop over, prompting him to leave the tree by Snoopy’s doghouse, which is sporting a blue ribbon honoring its holiday decorations. Charlie Brown’s friends support the tree trunk with the security blanket Linus (Chris Shea) always has in tow.
Charlie Brown returns to see the tree being decorated and joins his friends in singing “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”
Fun fact: Snoopy was the easiest to animate because he didn’t have an oversized head like the children.
It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)
Despondent banker George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) sees his life spiraling out of control and laments having ever been born. His statement prompts guardian angel Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers) to show Bailey a world that he was never part of. His wife experiences a lonesome existence, as the brother he saved from drowning as a child has no one to pull him from the freezing water.
Bailey sees the ripple effect of his existence and finds a newfound appreciation for his life and those around him. The movie’s antagonist, Mr. Potter, (Lionel Barrymore) occupies the number six slot on The American Film Institute’s 50 Greatest Villain in American Film History.
Another fun fact: FBI director J. Edgar Hoover deemed the film Communist propaganda and is rumored to have placed the cast and crew on a subversive watch list. A declassified FBI report from 1947 shows the extent of the agencies paranoia.
“[Mr. Potter] represented a rather obvious attempt to discredit bankers by casting Lionel Barrymore as ‘scrooge-type’ so that he would be the most hated man in the picture…[the film] deliberately maligned the upper class.”
Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983)
This Disney take on the Charles Dickens classic sees Mickey as the under-appreciated Bob Cratchit and Scrooge McDuck as Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge’s long-deceased business partner Jacob Marley (Goofy) warns him that a lonesome and desolate eternity awaits him if he doesn’t change his greedy, miserly ways.
He’s visited by ghosts who share glimpses of his past, present and potential future. Scrooge ultimately opens up his heart–and wallet–to the deserving Cratchit family.
Look for cameos from Donald Duck, Jiminy Cricket and Mr. Toad and Disney’s oldest character, Pete.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
Neal Page (Steve Martin) wants nothing more than to get home in time for Thanksgiving. A meeting at his soul-crushing job runs long, causing him to barely miss his flight. Foul weather and booked airplanes serendipitously pair Neal and Del Griffith, (John Candy), a traveling salesman with a motor mouth and tender heart.
Neal reluctantly pools resources with Del in hopes of getting back to Chicago in time for some much-needed time with his family. Martin and Candy offer timeless performances of men who are flawed, yet relatable. Del’s hard-luck backstory crystallizes toward end of the film, and workaholic Neal appears ready for a healthier balance between career and family. The movie is what Del might call “The real article. What you see is what you get.”
Bonus points if you can spot Kevin Bacon’s uncredited appearance.
The Christmas Toy (1986)
This live-action special produced by the Jim Henson Company embraces timeless values like acceptance, friendship and selflessness. In this Christmas special, toys are individuals with hopes, fears and ambitions whenever humans aren’t around. They are free to move about, but become inanimate if found out of position.
The central character, Rugby The Tiger (Dave Goelz), laments losing his place as his owner’s favorite toy. Rugby schemes to place himself into the gift box so he can be the prized present once again. Opening the present introduces the newest gift, Meteora, Queen of the Asteroids (Camille Bonora). Meteora assumes she’s landed on an alien planet and doesn’t accept her status as a toy.
The possessions must then find a way to return Meteora to her packaging and Rugby to the bedroom before Christmas morning, as Rugby’s presence in a package on Christmas morning puts him out of position and would seal his fate.
Does the plot sound familiar to a beloved computer-animated trilogy that began almost a decade later? Think “Buzz Lightyear.”